The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has launched a motor finance specialist apprenticeship to offer employment and training opportunities in the sector. The launch of the apprenticeship is the culmination of 18 months of discussions between FLA members, brokers, dealerships and professional bodies, to devise a training programme that matches the specific skills and knowledge required in a market where 88% of private new car purchases are made using motor finance.

The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has launched a motor finance specialist apprenticeship to offer employment and training opportunities in the sector. The launch of the apprenticeship is the culmination of 18 months of discussions between FLA members, brokers, dealerships and professional bodies, to devise a training programme that matches the specific skills and knowledge required in a market where 88% of private new car purchases are made using motor finance.

Annual sales of cars and commercial vehicles rose 2.6% last year, but demand is shifting in a changing global market. The automotive industry sold 86.05 million cars and commercial vehicles around the world in 2017, a rise of more than 2 million units compared to the year before. The regional results paint an interesting picture, with new figures from industry automotive analysts Jato showing that demand in India grew particularly strongly, with sales up 9% to 3.61 million.

Annual sales of cars and commercial vehicles rose 2.6% last year, but demand is shifting in a changing global market. The automotive industry sold 86.05 million cars and commercial vehicles around the world in 2017, a rise of more than 2 million units compared to the year before. The regional results paint an interesting picture, with new figures from industry automotive analysts Jato showing that demand in India grew particularly strongly, with sales up 9% to 3.61 million.

A car dealer reliance on trying to offer the lowest monthly finance rates is an unsustainable ‘addiction’ that undermines loyalty and profits, industry experts have warned. Dealers should be focusing instead on maintaining loyalty through shorter change cycles and qualifying customers more carefully, according to finance retention specialists Chrysalis Loyalty. It says dealers are using extended personal contract purchase (PCP) terms to lower monthly payments and offer a quick fix to generating demand in an increasingly competitive market.

A car dealer reliance on trying to offer the lowest monthly finance rates is an unsustainable ‘addiction’ that undermines loyalty and profits, industry experts have warned. Dealers should be focusing instead on maintaining loyalty through shorter change cycles and qualifying customers more carefully, according to finance retention specialists Chrysalis Loyalty. It says dealers are using extended personal contract purchase (PCP) terms to lower monthly payments and offer a quick fix to generating demand in an increasingly competitive market.

RCI Bank and Services financed more than 1.7 million vehicles last year as demand leapt 13.2% compared to 2016. It wrote 1,771,000 new financing contracts worth €20.6 billion for new and used vehicles during the year, with an average penetration rate of 42.6%. Group pre-tax income rose 18.1% year-on-year to €1.077 billion, supported by reduced operating costs. RCI Bank and Services is the commercial identity of RCI Banque.

Santander Consumer USA has reached an agreement with automotive technology leader AutoGravity to make its indirect finance offers available nationwide through the AutoGravity mobile app. The lender announced last month that it had reached a similar deal with another automotive fintech startup, AutoFi.